Girl Guides join Angmering care home residents for a journey into Christmas past

Old festive traditions came to life at a care home in Angmering, where residents welcomed a local girl guides group for a day of seasonal activities. 

Care UK’s Ayton House, on Dapper’s Lane, joined forces with young visitors from the Angmering Girl Guides to revisit customs from Christmas past.

The event was part of Care UK’s ‘Step into Christmas’ initiative, which aims to revive residents’ festive traditions, encouraging them to share memories with the younger generation. 

By blending storytelling, crafts and carol singing, the events create a space for meaningful intergenerational connection. 

On the day, the Girl Guides arrived equipped with aprons and cookie cutters to bake traditional gingerbread biscuits with the help of the residents. The group crafted a variety of Christmas-shaped biscuits, including trees, snowmen, baubles and Father Christmas.

After everyone had their fill of home-baked Christmas treats, residents and their guests gathered in the lounge before the older generation shared festive stories from their own childhoods. 

Resident Gillian said: “I really enjoyed the event with the children. It reminded me of when my children were young and how important is was to do fun and creative activities with them.”

Joel Ignacio, Home Manager at Ayton House, said: “Christmas is such a special time of year, and this event allowed us to honour those memories from residents’ childhoods of creating festive decorations.  

“It was a wonderful opportunity to bring different generations together for a day of festive cheer. It was truly heartwarming to watch residents reminisce and share stories from Christmases gone by. 

“We’d like to extend a huge thank you to the Angmering Girl Guides for joining us and making the day so joyous for all involved! Their presence brought an extra sparkle to the day.”

Ayton House is a new state-of-the-art care home providing full-time residential and dementia care, as well as short-term respite care. The building is designed to enable residents to lead enjoyable and fulfilling lives with its very own cinema, hair salon and pub, along with plenty of space – both indoors and out – for relaxation and recreation.